肺炎克氏杆菌NifA对巴西固氮螺菌nifH启动子的转录激活作用

用PR方法克隆了巴西固氮螺菌Yu62 nifH的启动子片段,DNA序列分析表明菌株Yu62与标准菌株sp7之间的DNA序列差异很小。利用启动子探针质粒载体pcBl82,构建了3个不同的nifH：：lacz转录融合质粒,在大肠杆菌中分别测定肺炎克氏杆菌NifA对它们的转录激活作用。结果表明巴西固氮螺菌nifH启动子的转录是依赖于NifA的,缺失了上游激活序列的启动子不能被NifA激活转录,肺炎克氏杆菌NifA对其自身nifH及巴西固氮螺菌nifH启动子的转录激活作用并无很大差异。     

Transcription of the Azospirillum brasilense nifH gene is positively regulated by NifA and NtrA and is negatively controlled by the cellular nitrogen status.

The expression of a translational Azospirillum brasilense nifH-uidA fusion was studied in A. brasilense and in Rhizobium meliloti strains with mutations in nifA, ntrA and ntrC. Induction of the fusion was observed in the R. meliloti wild-type and NtrC- strains on incubation under microaerobic conditions but not in the NifA- and NtrA- strains, showing the absolute requirement of both sigma 54 and NifA for activation of the nifH promoter. Histochemical analysis of the root nodules elicited by R. meliloti wild-type showed expression of the fusion in the late symbiotic zone but not in the meristematic and the early symbiotic zones. No induction of the nifH-uidA fusion was observed in the R. meliloti wild-type or NifA- strains incubated aerobically in nitrogen-free medium, indicating that, in contrast to R. meliloti nifH, A. brasilense nifH cannot be activated directly by NtrC. Expression of the nifH gene in A. brasilense only occurs under nitrogen-limiting, microaerobic conditions, suggesting the presence of a nitrogen-dependent control system for nif gene expression.     

Cloning, sequencing, mutagenesis, and functional characterization of draT and draG genes from Azospirillum brasilense.

The Azospirillum brasilense draT gene, encoding dinitrogenase reductase ATP-ribosyltransferase, and draG gene, encoding dinitrogenase reductase activating glycohydrolase, were cloned and sequenced. Two genes were contiguous on the A. brasilense chromosome and showed extensive similarity to the same genes from Rhodospirillum rubrum. Analysis of mutations introduced into the dra region on the A. brasilense chromosome showed that mutants affected in draT were incapable of regulating nitrogenase activity in response to ammonium. In contrast, a mutant with an insertion in draG was still capable of ADP-ribosylating dinitrogenase reductase in response to ammonium but was no longer able to recover activity after ammonium depletion. Plasmid-borne draTG genes from A. brasilense were introduced into dra mutants of R. rubrum and restored these mutants to an apparently wild-type phenotype. It is particularly interesting that dra mutants of R. rubrum containing draTG of A. brasilense can respond to darkness and light, since A. brasilense is a nonphotosynthetic bacterium and its dra system does not normally possess that regulatory response. The nifH gene of A. brasilense, encoding dinitrogenase reductase (the substrate of dinitrogenase reductase ADP-ribosyltransferase and dinitrogenase reductase-activating glycohydrolase), is located 1.9 kb from the start of draT and is divergently transcribed. Two insertion mutations in the region between draT and nifH showed no significant effect on nitrogenase activity or its regulation.     

巴西固氮螺菌Yu62 draTG基因及其下游区域的定位诱变分析

用卡那霉素盒（Ｋｍ－ｃａｓｓｅｔｔｅ）插入法,对巴西固氮螺菌（Ａｚｏｓｐｉｒｉｌｌｕｍｂｒａｓｉｌｅｎｓｅ）Ｙｕ６２的ｄｒａＴＧ基因及其下游区域进行了诱变,并获得相应的突变株,研究表明ｄｒａＴ变突株的固氮酶活性不再受铵抑制,而ｄｒａＧ突变株在有铵时则丧失固氮酶活性,但当铵耗尽后却不能使像野生型菌株那样恢复活性,ｄｒａＴＧ下游区域突变株ＹＺ４（突变位点距ｄｒａＧ约２ｋｂ）在无氮及限铵条件下,其固氮酶     

Nucleotide sequence of the nifH gene coding for nitrogen reductase in the acetic acid bacterium Acetobacter diazotrophicus

The nifH gene sequence of the nitrogen-fixing bacterium Acetobacter diazotrophicus was determined with the use of the polymerase chain reaction and universal degenerate oligonucleotide primers. The gene shows highest pair-wise similarity to the nifH gene of Azospirillum brasilense . The phylogenetic relationships of the nifH gene sequences were compared with those inferred from 16S rRNA gene sequences. Knowledge of the sequence of the nifH gene contributes to the growing database of nifH gene sequences, and will allow the detection of Acet. diazotrophicus from environmental samples with nifH gene-based primers.     

Characterization of pigmented methylotrophic bacteria which nodulate Lotononis bainesii

Root nodule isolates from a shrubby legume, Lotononis bainesii, were characterized by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and morphologically by substrate utilization patterns. The symbiotic genome of these isolates was analysed by partial sequencing of the nifH gene. Based on the results of numerical taxonomy, the isolates formed a closely related cluster, showing no correspondence to any of the known rhizobial clusters. Analysis of nearly full-length 16S rDNA sequences demonstrated that these isolates were related to Methylobacterium nodulans (SY et al., 2001). In the absence of nifH sequence data for the genus Methylobacterium, the nifH phylogeny showed these isolates to be related to Azospirillum brasilense. The facultative methylotrophic nature of these isolates was also demonstrated by their ability to grow in the presence of methanol as a sole carbon source.     

Modulation of NifA activity by PII in Azospirillum brasilense: evidence for a regulatory role of the NifA N-terminal domain.

Azospirillum brasilense NifA, which is synthesized under all physiological conditions, exists in an active or inactive from depending on the availability of ammonia. The activity also depends on the presence of PII, as NifA is inactive in a glnB mutant. To investigate further the mechanism that regulates NifA activity, several deletions of the nifA coding sequence covering the amino-terminal domain of NifA were constructed. The ability of these truncated NifA proteins to activate the nifH promoter in the absence or presence of ammonia was assayed in A. brasilense wild-type and mutant strains. Our results suggest that the N-terminal domain is not essential for NifA activity. This domain plays an inhibitory role which prevents NifA activity in the presence of ammonia. The truncated proteins were also able to restore nif gene expression to a glnB mutant, suggesting that PII is required to activate NifA by preventing the inhibitory effect of its N-terminal domain under conditions of nitrogen fixation. Low levels of nitrogenase activity in the presence of ammonia were also observed when the truncated gene was introduced into a strain devoid of the ADP-ribosylation control of nitrogenase. We propose a model for the regulation of NifA activity in A. brasilense.